


Catwoman I (Avengers)

by redheadbecky



Series: Catwoman [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-08 05:04:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8831566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redheadbecky/pseuds/redheadbecky
Summary: When Catwoman steal something she shouldn't she encounters two faces from her past that she thought she had forgotten.....Steve Rogers encounters a suited feline that shakes the Avengers world.....only maybe there is something familiar about her.....





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Full Name: BARNES; Selena  
> Sex: Female  
> Height: 5'7  
> Weight: 133 lbs  
> Hair colour: Dark Brown  
> Eye colour: Unique Orange/yellow  
> Date of birth: March 10th 1917  
> Missing persons file created: 1945 four days after the death of Sergeant James Barnes, her twin brother  
> File created by: Captain Steve Rogers  
> Relationship: Family friend.  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
> Full Name: Irena Dubrovna  
> Aliases: Selina Kyle, Elva Barr, Sadie Kelowski, Madame Moderne, Marguerite Tone  
> Code Name: Catwoman  
> Affiliation: Questionable (former HYDRA)

Irina taps her heel against the chair as she watches the news, her other hand stroking that of her faithful cat, no matter what had happened he had found her, he's currently curled up on her lap his tail wrapped around her wrist as she watches the Battle of New York unfold on the news. It's mayhem, she suppose she should help, but that involves getting up plus it looked like these  _superheroes_ had it all down, she looks up at one of those whale things flies past her window, she raises an eyebrow as the cat's head lifts to glare at the beast for disturbing his sleep. 

“I know how you feel, James” the cat huffs and curls back up again. “I suppose we should get going before the home owner returns, what say we move uptown out of the line of fire” James stands and stretched before jumping to the floor and sitting on Irina's duffle bag. She smirks and stands pulling down her mask from the top of her head and stashing her steal, a beautifully stunning chocolate diamond ring, grabbing the bag and then James she sneaks out the window and up to the roof top where she has to pull out her gun to shoot some stupid alien, her whip in her other hand she snaps it out to wrap around another alien's gun, pulling it from him before shooting, James just sits at her feet, bored. Clear she pulls her duffle onto her back before taking off at a run, James running behind her.

......................

That was four years ago, she had done well to stay out of trouble, well, mostly out of trouble, she steals the odd thing, when she can't help herself, you know what I mean, when you see something so beautiful you can't help but get sticky fingers around it. She hears about the downfall of SHIELD, they had been on her tail for a while, figures they might stop now they had fallen, of course she should have known better, now that SHIELD had fallen HYDRA had come out of the woodwork and wanted their assets back. Apparently she hadn't been the only one to go rogue, their Winter Soldier also had, she had met him a few times, trained with him a bit, they were never allowed to be alone together, she never understood it but it wasn't her place to question at the time, now she did, now she had been getting her memories back, that's why she had left HYDRA in the first place, stupid HYDRA and their stupid brainwashing. She looks up at the stars from where she lays on the top of an apartment complex, she would come here when her nightmares would get especially bad or whenever she couldn't sleep or both. Her leg hangs over the edge and swings as she closes her eyes to watches the flashes of her past life. The two small boys she used to follow around, one her brother, her twin, he used to be fierce about her, would do anything to protect her, and the others, his blonde blue eyed friend, they'd spend every free moment together, the three of them. Though she can't remember their names or her real one she knows what they meant to her, she reaches up and brushes the tears from her face. She shakes her head before standing and snapping her whip out, she looks at her target and smirks, throwing out the whip which wraps around a pipe opposite before she jumps, swinging across the street and into the open window, her whip unravels and she rolls to a stop before stealthily moving through the apartment to the safe in the study, she had watched the apartment for three days for this, her fingers find the safe and she smirks taking the dial and feeling the way it unlocks under her fingers. She would think someone that is as careful as this guy would have a better safe. She pulls it open and grabs the memory stick, slipping it into a pocket on her belt then grabs the paper files and closing the safe, she cocks her head and pulls her gun and turning. There he stood, former director of SHIELD Nick Fury, in his jammies, well black lounge pants for jammies. 

“Put them back and I won't shoot you” she cocks her head looking to the file in her hand, she loved a challenge. Purring she smirks and bolts for the window, followed by gun shoots, she swapped her gun for her whip and jumped out the window snapping it out to wrap around the building ahead of her before she lowers to the ground, before taking off at a run, Nick Fury firing into the street as she goes.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Fury paces, pissed as he waits on the Avengers, well save Thor who was back on Asgard for something or other, he was just glad the god was ripping apart some part of the states. Natasha and Clint are in first, ever dutiful agents despite the fall of SHIELD, behind them Steve and Bucky, Captain America and the Winter Solider, then Bruce Banner who had recently returned from his  _holiday_ , after everything that went on with Ultron it was allowed, the Maximoff twins seep in after, both still wary of their new surroundings, Pietro having only recently healed from his shooting, Vision floats in, there is no other way to explain it, the man, robot thing gave Fury the willies. Lastly as usually Tony Stark, Iron Man himself, they each take a seat around the table waiting for Fury to start. He turns and turns on the screen showing a grainy screen grab of Catwoman. 

“This woman broke into my apartment last night and stole sensitive files from my safe”

“Someone broke into your apartment?” Stark teases with a smirk. “And a woman” Fury rolls his eyes and brings up the woman's file.

“She's known as Catwoman, and my apartment was not the first she has stolen from......” he flicks the next screen. “Over the past 10 years she had appeared, stealing things from a simple feline broach to one of the worlds most expensive panther bracelet”

“The Wallis Simpson bracelet?” Natasha asks leaning on the desk.

“Yes, worth $4.5 million” a whole table of eyebrows shot up. “She nor it where found”

“Till now” Bruce points out nodding the screen. “Who is she?”

“Former HYDRA” Bucky states. “I remember her”

“Buck?” Steve asks looking to his friend.

“When my memories started coming back they told me it was happening again, that it started with her” he points to the screen grab of Catwoman. “They called her Irina Dubrovna, she was an infiltrator, we trained together once or twice”

“What else?”

“She's agile, fast, flexible, everything about the way she moves is very....feline and they” Bucky looks down. “They wiped her, like me....took away her memories, I remember hearing her screaming for them to stop” Steve places a hand on his shoulder.

“It's not your fault Bucky” he nods stiffly.

“She didn't talk much, but when she did, she always made this noise”

“A purr” Fury replies. “She made the same noise last night”

“So she takes the whole cat thing a little far” Stark mumbles pushing his sunglasses up his head. “What do you want us to do?” Fury places a black Egyptian cat statue on the table.

“An ancient Egyptian black marble and gold statue of the Cat goddess, I want Stark to advertise that he has bought it and is keeping it within the tower, she won't be able to resist”

“You think it will be that easy?” Steve asks dubious.

“She's a thief that steals feline based objects” Natasha starts. “It's a good plan” Stark pokes the statues and Fury slaps it away.

“Don't touch” Stark frowns as Fury places a glass casing over it. “You have a press conference in 30 minutes” he picks up the base and hands it over to Stark. “Pepper already has a speech waiting for you, stick to the words printed, they are specific to draw Catwoman in”

“Fine” Stark takes the statue before grunting. “It's a heavy little thing”

“It's marble Stark” Stark grumbles heading out the door, Steve and Natasha turn back to Fury.

“What do you want us to do when we have her in sights?”

“Tranq her, if she is former HYDRA she could provide us intel”

“Then we need a plan...”

“And tranq darts” they looks to Bruce who sighs.

“There are some of the new paralysis darts in my lab, though may I voice my concern about actually using them on another human being HYDRA or not”

“Noted” Fury states. “I want Barton and Romanoff with the darts, Rogers, Barnes, I want you both on the side lines ready to grab her, Banner in your lab out of the way of the fighting” he nods, happy that he would be out of the way. “We don't need the Hulk out on top of this girl”

.......................

Stark stands at the podium looking to the Egyptian statue and then to the speech laid out in front of him, he wasn't usually one to do the whole scripted thing but this seems important, he looks up at the camera's and flashes his signature smiles before starting.

............................

Irina walks down the street with James on her heel, he just seems content to follow her and she can't help but smile, she glances to the side to see the shop of Tv screens showing a press conference with Tony Stark but that wasn't what caught her eye, her eyes were on the statue at his side, she purrs and steps closer to the window. James sits at her side as her eyes changes to her cat's eyes, target locked, she smirks and listens to the press release, high security this, lasers that, Stark smirking, it was all very well played, of course she could taste it was a trap but how she loved that statue, and what's one tower, how hard could it really be?

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Irina scoped out the tower from across the street, James paced the rooftop pouncing on shadows as Irina pushed the night vision googles down from her head onto her eyes, she smiles spotting the statue, fifteenth floor, centre of the room, security cameras watching it from all angles, she couldn't scale outside, elevator shaft perhaps, if she cut the power, the Tower probably had a back up generator, that gives her 30 seconds max to slip into the building and into the shaft, unless she finds the generator and takes that out as well, that's usually on the roof, she stands and raises her head to look up at the roof, North side, if she could get into the building and to the top floor then she could reach the roof, sabotage the generator sneak back out, she wouldn't get away with stealing it in broad daylight, too many people coming and going, but at night, cut the power, with no back up generator she had more time, she nods and removes the googles before packing them into her bag and walking away, James now following swatting at her heels.

...........................

The next morning wearing her blonde wig and big sunglasses to hide her eyes she heads towards the Avengers Tower, Stark Tower whatever they are calling it nowadays, her heels tap tap tap against the sidewalk, spotting her target she changed course to bump onto them.

“I am so sorry” Irina mumbles quickly before walking off again, the access pass now in her hand, smiling she picks up her pace and enters the building clipping the pass onto her jacket as she heads to the elevator, she smirks seeing a button for roof access, pressing it she watches the doors close, an evil sadistic smile etched onto her lips. She hums as the elevator takes her up, lucky she is the only one in it, as the doors open she steps out already pulling her tools from the inside pocket of her blazer, finding the generator she crouches and pulls open the door and begins work on setting her timer to the wiring, hopefully she will have the timing later in the day down so that the second she cuts the power the generator will cut out for an hour, giving her enough time to climb the elevator shaft and steal her prize, finished she closes the door and heads back to the elevator.

................................

Reaching the fifteenth floor the doors open and none other than Mr Stark enters his eyes trained on his phone, Irina catches a glimpse of the statue and smirks, in no more than 7 hours it would be hers, Mr Stark clears his throat to gain her attention, she cocks her head looking up at him with a smirk.

“Mr Stark” he glances to her badge.

“Miss Homes” she smiles. “Did you do something different to your look?”

“No, why do you ask?” he moves closer to her.

“Would have noticed if you were this hot” she rolls her eyes and turns her head away, that smirk reappearing on her face, like the Cheshire cat. She turns her whole body towards him, her fingers finding his chest as she pushes herself up against him, that famous Stark smirk appears and his hands find her waist.

“You are a shameless flirt Mr Stark” she practically purrs against him as she presses him back against the elevator wall.

“You are very bold Miss Watson” she smirks and presses her lips to his, it takes him a second before he kisses her back his hand finding her neck to pull her closer, when the elevator dings announcing the were at their floor she pulls back and smirks, his mouth opens and closes and she smirks a little more.

“What's the matter, cat got your tongue?” she chuckles and Stark stares at her as she walks out the elevator, swaying her hips as she goes, clearing his throat he head to the reception desk where a blonde woman was arguing with the brunette behind the desk.

“Evelyn Watson, I've worked her for seven years” Stark frowns and looks back where Miss Watson, Irina had headed, he had vanished into the crowd and he could have kicked himself.

....................................

Catsuited up, Irina cuts the power to the Stark Tower, the lights inside suddenly descend it into darkness, smiling she stealthy and slowly makes her way into the building and towards the elevator with her duffle bag, placing it on the ground and crouching she pulls out the crossbar to wedge between the elevator doors and pry open before slipping in and dragging the bag with her. Inside she pulls on the harness and the climbers gloves, specialized claws for this, the torch she attaches to her shoulder straps before pulling the bag onto her back and opening the latch on the top of the elevator cab, placing her foot on the hand rail that is along the wall she pushes herself up through the hatch, crouches she switches the torch on and looks up, smirking she moves to the wall and presses a button on each of her boots, toe claws, pulling the grappling hook from her utility belt she shoots it up, it would only reach the fifth or sixth floor so would need to be repeated as she goes, she tugs to test the strength before tying it to her harness and then she kicks on foot into the wall and then her other a little higher up and then using her claws she begins to climb.

.......................

Finally reaching the floor she wanted she reaches back into her bag to pull the crossbar out before wedging it into the door and pulls it open before pushing herself through the doors, rolling to her feet scanning the area, she turns off her torch and swaps it for her night vision goggles, smirking like the cat that got the cream, she edges forward, her eyes flickering around for the so called lasers. She cocks her head and looks to the side spotting the laser box. Reaching into her utility belt she pulls out a pouch of baby powder, before blowing it over the lasers, she's quick, agile, flexible as she outmaneuvers them perfectly until she reaches the glass casing. She cocks her head and then dodges the tranq dart, growling she straightens up and looks to who shot it as she pulls her whip from her side, she snaps it out and it wraps around shooter's neck, she tugs bringing him into her view. He smirks and looks to something over her shoulder, she turns and dodges another dart, only for it to hit the other shooter, he goes down quick, Irina smirks and takes a step towards the new shooter before running towards them, she ducks and rolls away from more shots before she is grabbing a wrist, a redhead, she tugs the woman closer and twists her wrist till she drops the gun, Irina is quick to grab it before firing at the redhead, she stares in shock before hitting the ground with a thump, Irina throws the gun down and turns back to the casing. She grabs the glass and throws it from the statue. She reaches for the cat only to turn sharply and grab the shield heading towards her. 

“Now I am pissed” she snarls throwing it back, she hears an oomph before she is grabbing her own gun from her side and shoots towards where the sound had come from, she can make out the shadows of three figures moving, one more metallic sounding then the other. “Mr Stark” she purrs looking towards his Iron Man suit.

“Miss Watson”

“Hmmmm”

“Miss Dubrovna” he correct and she purrs moving silently around the room, right for him, whether he knew it or not she didn't know.

“I prefer Catwoman” he turns sharply, with her now at his side, he reaches out for her and she scratches, her nails making short work of his suit.

“My suit!!” he shouts and she pounces up onto his shoulder her hands on his helmet. “Your nails broke my suit!!!”

“They are made of the strongest metal on Earth, your suit is like flesh to them”

“Vibranium?” another voice reaches her, close, they are trying to find her by finding Iron Man, she chuckles.

“That's cute.....Howard Stark tell you that?”

“You knew my father?”

“I know of him......my master used to tell me about him, how he was a liar!” she snaps tugging his helmet off and throwing it towards the nearest figure, he grunts and grabs it, her fingers thread into Stark's hair.

“Can you stop that, It's turning me on” she purrs and nears his ear before licking him and jumping up into the vents above.

“Where did she go?!” a gruff voice calls out as she slinks through the vents.

“I don't know, Stark, get Barton and Romanoff down to Bruce, see if he has an antidote for those darts” she slips her goggles back down and watches Stark grab the readhead and the man from before and carry them towards the elevator before pausing.

“Urm....there is no electricity, elevators don't work”

“Use the stairs”

“The doors are magnetized” the three of them groan and Stark drops the two to the floor and crosses his arms over his chest. “Here kitty kitty” he makes call noises and she rolls her eyes.

“Stark” the gruff voice warns. “Why was Howard a liar?”

“Master wouldn't say” she states slipping out the vents to the ground silently. “He just said he was a liar, cause of the metal”

“Vibranium?”

“Master found something stronger” she stalks the room. “Enchanted Uru, you know of it, your allies weapon is made of it” the room is silent for a moment before the softer voice speaks up.

“Thor's hammer, how did HYDRA get their hands on Uru?”

“It was a gift” she hisses and punches the closest male in the face, he stumbles back before grabbing her wrist, metal? She stares at the arm.

“I got her!” she pushes her feet off the ground to wrap around his arm, she kicks him in the face with her boot just as she ran out of time, the generator kicks in and the room lights up, she quickly pushes her goggle off her face and kicks again, harder, he stumbles back letting her go, she lands gracefully on her feet before she stands, the three men all look to her, now they can see her.

“Time's up” she smirks and moves to grab the statue and her gun, she shoots out the window before jumping out.

“Holy hell” the three of them run and watch as she falls, her whip latching to a pipe across the street and she swings before rolling onto the roof, she looks back to the three Avengers and salutes before running off.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Fury paces looking over the battered Avengers, Natasha and Clint still coming around after the effects of the darts, Tony's suit was shredded and Bucky had numerous bruises on his face, and their target got away with the statue.

“She got away?”

“She jumped out the fifteenth floor window” Steve states with a sigh, his fingers brushing through his blonde hair. “And then....”

“Used her whip to land safely” Fury finishes. “It's what she does”

“She was in the building earlier, FRIDAY, the elevator clip please” the screen to their left showed the surveillance feed from when Stark was in the elevator with Miss Watson, they watch as she smirks and then presses herself up against Stark. “It wasn't till after that I realized who she was” he pauses the feed on her face. Steve and Bucky both frown and narrow their eyes at the screen before sharing a look, it was impossible.

“FRIDAY run facial recognition” Bucky asks standing and pacing, Steve crosses his arms over his chest as they wait.

“What's on your mind Frosty?” Stark asks looking to Bucky.

“Something impossible” he mumbles causing the room to look at him.

“90% match confirmed” another picture popped up next to the surveillance feed. “Selina Barnes born March 10th 1917, reported missing...”

“1945” Steve finishes.

“Barnes?” Fury asks looking to Bucky.

“My sister” he sighs. “My twin” he suddenly punches the wall with his metal arm. “HYDRA had my sister” he growls and leaves the room.

“Rogers?” Steve sighs and turns back to them.

“She didn't take the news of Bucky's death well, four days after I told her what happened, she vanished, no note, no nothing, just gone, I reported her missing but it was the war, everyone had more important things to worry about then a missing girl, I never even thought HYDRA” he sighs and falls into a seat rubbing his hands over his face. “I just thought she couldn't cope without Buck”

“You thought she'd killed herself” he nods and looks to Natasha sadly. “You were more than just friends, weren't you?”

“I loved her more than anything” he states before sighing, standing and leaving the room, the others watch him sadly. Fury shakes his head.

“Dismissed, rest up, tomorrow we start again” they each left the room, the two assassin, wearily, tiredly and wobbly following a down trodden Stark.

...........................

Irina places the Egyptian statue on her mantle piece before stepping back to admire it, the place she called home wasn't anything fancy, it may have been once upon a time before the government turned it into a psychiatric home and then shutting it down, she lounges back on her tiger skin rug and sighs, James rubbing himself up against her leg before laying by her head. The Winter Soldier is with Avengers, interesting, she lays with her hands behind her head as she looses herself in thought, it'd been twenty years since she last saw the soldier but he looked exactly the same, sort of how she does, she reaches up and slips off her mask, the mirror on the ceiling reflecting her image back to her, she closes her eyes as an influx of images bombard her brain.

“ _Come on Steve, keep up” flashes of blonde hair and baby blue eyes look back at her, a skinny, scrawny looking kid who smiles at her and she can feel her heart melt, that look in his eyes that says he would do anything for her, the image is old, broken, fraying around the edges as she tries to concentrate on the memory._

_“ Lina, Bucky slow down!” She looks to the other boy at her side, his hand holds her tightly in case she was to run away. They look the same, she and he, apart from the eyes and the fact he is a little taller than her. _

_“ We're going to miss it Steve” She bounces on her feet holding out her free hand to the other boy, blushing and smiling he takes it and lets her pull him along with them. “We can't miss the fireworks” _

_“ Lina” Bucky smiles pulling his sister closer. “We have plenty of time”_

_“ But we won't get good seats Buck” _ _Her brother just smiles at her before picking up his pace a little._ Irina sits up abruptly and wipes furiously at her face before standing and leaving the room, James merely lifts his head to watch his mistress stalk away.

..........................

Bucky paces, his girlfriend Wanda watching him carefully, she didn't want to invade his mind to find out what was wrong but seen as he hadn't said anything since coming in she was close to doing so.

“Bucky” Steve enters the room and looks to his friend.

“I didn't know” he tells him. “All that time, I saw her, in the halls, as I was leaving for a mission she would be coming in from one, or I was coming in and she was leaving, oh god all those times she screamed” Bucky clasps his head.

“Bucky” Wanda jumps up to place a hand on his shoulder.

“I should have helped her” Wanda looks to Steve for an explanation.

“Catwoman” Wanda nods. “Bucky's twin sister”

“Then we find her” Wanda states. “And we bring her home” Bucky embraces her and sniffles into her shoulder. Steve gives her a thankful smile as Pietro appears.

“What's wrong with terminator?”

“He has a twin” Pietro raises an eyebrow. “She is Catwoman”

“The hot chick in the leather suit” Bucky and Steve both growl and Pietro steps back. Steve looks surprised by his own reaction and blushes looking to the floor.

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Irina pulls her hood up over her head as she walks the streets of Brooklyn, she doesn't even know why she is here she just started walking till she crossed the bridge, the rain had started pouring the second she had stepped foot off the bridge, sighing she looks up at the building, something familiar stirred in the back of her mind. She looks down the street to see a smaller her running towards one of the alleys, big her follows the memory. She smirks watching her younger self pulling the bully off the blonde kid, even back then she packed a punch.

“ _Lina”_ the girl crouches in front of the boy. 

“ _What was it this time Steve?”_ he blushes and looks away as she runs her finger over his split lip. 

“ _They said bad things about you, Lina”_ she sighs and kneels kissing his cheek, he blushes harder. 

“ _You can't beat up everyone who says bad things about me, or you, or Buck, but thank you”_ he takes her hand and threads his fingers with hers. Irina blinks back the tears and looks away. 

“You patched me up in this alley” she startles and jumps back from the huge muscle man that is Captain America who stood behind her. She presses herself back against the wall and away from him, she checks him for weapons. “I'm not here to hurt you Selina”

“Irina”

“Sorry, Irina, do you remember?” he nods to the alley.

“You were smaller” she frowns and steps away from him. “Smaller” she mumbles looking over him. She tugs on her sleeve nervously looking for a way out.

“Yeah, I was” she jumps at the sound of sirens and looks at him accusingly. “There not for you” but her mind is back to escaping, she turns and runs scaling a wall, she glances back at him, he sighs, as she jumps over the wall and away from him.

................................

Steve returns to the tower and straight to Bucky's floor, Bucky is sat at his kitchen counter with Pietro as Wanda cooks for them.

“Selina's in there Bucky”

“What?” Bucky turns to his friend and then frowns. “You went after her.....alone, Steve she could have hurt you”

“She didn't Buck, Lina is in there, she's remembering, we just need to bring her in, if she spends time with us then...”

“Steve, Lina isn't coming back, who ever that is, will **_never_ ** be the same Lina, just like I'm not the same Bucky you knew, what ever HYDRA has done to us, we are not the same” Steve looks down, he knows it is true, he knows chances are he won't get his Lina back, it's been 70 years, he's not the same Steve he was when they were younger. “I'm sorry but the chances of her fully remembering, it's slim” 

“Well aren't you just a bucket of sunshine” they all spin to find Catwoman leaning against the wall.

“What are you doing here?” Bucky asks standing up.

“Followed the blonde” she nods at Steve as she moves along the wall towards the fridge, Pietro now stood protectively in front of Wanda and Bucky at his side, Steve watches Irina/Selina whichever move to the fridge. “Do you have any cream?” Pietro smirks.

“Cream?”

“I'm thirsty” she states and rummages in the fridge.

“Stark might have some downstairs in his bar” she waves her hand dismissively.

“Already tried” she straightens up. “Someone might want to untie him though” Pietro snorts a chuckles as Irina/Selina moves around the room.

“Pietro” Wanda warns and the speedster nods and hurries to untie Stark. “Selina” Wanda starts.

“Irina” The female feline corrects. “My name is Irina, how many times” she rolls her eyes dropping onto the sofa. “This is comfy” she stretches out across the fabric and purrs, Steve and Bucky share a look.

“Irina, why are you really here?” Wanda asks carefully.

“I was lonely” Irina mumbles back staring at the wall. “I have no one.....well there is James, he'll find me though” Bucky raises an eyebrow.

“Who is James?”

“My cat” she mumbles as a cat jumps onto the counter right next to Bucky. “Hello James” the cat meows and snarls at Bucky before the cat jumps down to join his mistress on the sofa. Steve gives Bucky a look.

“Talk to her” he whispers at his friend before taking a seat at the counter as Wanda finishes making dinner, still warey of the newcomer. Bucky looks to Wanda for back up put she points the sofa with her spatula, Bucky sighs like a child and moves to sit on the coffee table across from the felines. Irina has her eyes closed as she strokes the cat laying on her chest.

“Where is she?!” Stark shouts bursting in the room Pietro close behind.

“Stark” Steve stands up and moves to stop the billionaire.

“She tied me up, with my own belt” Bucky has to stop the smirk that tries to spread across his lips. “And then drank my scotch, in front of me!!” Pietro chuckles turning it into a cough as Tony shoot him a glare. “It's bad enough she broke into my tower, not once, but three times!!” he holds up his fingers to drive his point home.

“It is not my fault your security is lacking” she purrs as she sits up, glancing over the back of the sofa. “Or that you had no cream”

“Cream?” he looks to Steve. “This is about cream” Stark nods then lunges at the sofa. Steve and Bucky grab him pulling him back whilst Wanda, Pietro and Irina watch.

“I'm sorry” they all pause to look at Irina as she looks away from them and to an unimpressive patch of wall. “I'll go” she turns heading to the window.

“No” Steve shouts out. “Stark” he and Bucky look to Stark, silently begging him.

“Urgh fine, we'll see what Fury says”

“Ah eyepatch man” Irina states slinking back to the sofa. “In the cute jammies” Stark actually smirks.

“Where are the files you stole?” Bucky suddenly asks looking to Irina who shrugs.

“I hid them”

“Why?”

“Someone else was looking for them, I just got there first” she yawns and stretches out on the sofa again, James retaking his place on her chest again, sort of like a feline guardian.

“Who?” Steve asks moving to sit in front of her.

“HYDRA” she mumbles and then begins snoring softly.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Bucky is the first awake the next morning, he hadn't really slept at all knowing his twin was in the next room, though she doesn't know she is his twin, he shuffles silently along the corridor, carefully so not to spook the feline. Leaning against the wall he watches her pace, her fingers in her hair around her mask digging into her skull, the damn cat sat watching her. She would flinch every now and then and then dig her fingers in harder, Bucky pushes himself up off the wall.

“Irina” she jerks in surprise and turns to look at him before moving to stand in front of him, he stiffens, ready, defensive. Her finger rise to his hair, which was still long, Winter Soldier style, she pushes it back to expose his face, her eyebrow frowning as she scans his face.

“Buck?” she asks softly, he stares back then, lifting his hands to remove her mask, she looks away once her face is bare and he pulls her face back. She hadn't changed a bit.

“Lina” she suddenly wraps her arms around his neck and buries her face into the crook, Bucky wraps his own arms around her. “Oh god Lina” he rests his forehead on her shoulder, before catching her as she suddenly collapses. “Lina!” he looks over her head to find Natasha with the tranq gun. “What are you doing?” he asks looking back to Irina who stares back with a look that screams betrayal.

“My job” Natasha responds stepping closer to them, Bucky pulls Irina closer to him. “Give her to me Bucky” Bucky reluctantly lets Natasha take Irina from him and heads towards the elevator where Fury and Clint wait, the archer taking the woman from the redhead and throwing her over his shoulder.

“Barnes, you, Rogers and the Maximoffs, containment floor, an hour” he nods stiffly as the elevator doors close.

....................................

Steve had blown up when Bucky had told his what Natasha had done, even Wanda was fuming having sensed no threat from the woman, Pietro takes his sisters hand as they stand with Stark, Barton and Banner, Clint sends them an apologetic look before looking back into the room, it had been originally built for whenever Bruce felt a Hulk moment coming on he would lock himself in the room to keep others safe. This time, it's Irina/Selina who lays unconscious in the middle of the room, her wrist chained down to the floor, just in case, her suit had been swapped for an over sized shirt that barely covers her legs, Natasha and Fury watch her waiting, the tranq dart not having an antidote but does wear off after an hour. They all stiffen when the female feline groans and tries to move, like Bambi on his new legs she stumbles as the paralysis wears off. She pulls to hard on the chain and her head snaps around to glare at it.

“Irina Dubrovna or is it Selina Kyle, or Elva Barr, Sadie Kelowski, Madame Moderne, Marguerite Tone” Irina smirks. “Or Selina Barnes” she turns her glare to Fury as he steps closer to her, she shifts carefully trying to keep both Fury and Natasha in her sights. “Where are the files you stole from my apartment?”

“Safe” she mumbles and looks around, nervously. “They wanted them as well”

“Who?”

“HYDRA......master” she whimpers and looks away. “He wanted them, couldn't let him have them”

“Why?”

“He wants _him_ ” she whispers and the other barely catch it.

“Who's him?”

“The asset” Bucky stiffens. “Couldn't let him have him” Steve and Bucky share a look.

“Why not?” Natasha asks.

“I don't know, I just couldn't” Irina tugs at the chains again as she becomes more desperate. “Please, please take these off” she cries out. “Take them off” she falls to her knees and Bucky's had enough, he bursts into the room and moves to Irina pulling her against his chest as she tries to pull off the chain.

“I think she's done” he tells Fury in a tone that leaves no room for argument, Bucky strokes Irina's head as she keeps tugging. “It's okay, I'll get them off” he tells her softly, using his metal arm he rips the chains from her, her arms free she throws them around him. Fury sighs.

“You will return the files you stole from me then return to the tower, to remain under tower arrest until we deem you.....no longer a threat” Irina rolls her eyes.

“Fine” Irina stands moving from Bucky who watches her carefully, behind him Steve stands in the doorway.

“Romanoff will you escort Miss Dubrovna to her belongings and find someone to escort her home”

“I'll do it” Steve raises his hand a little. “I'll escort her home” Natasha nods and looks to Irina who is careful and cautious to follow as she leaves the room. Fury turns to Bucky.

“What remains of HYDRA are looking for you, we need to be extra careful” Bucky nods and sighs heading back out the room with Fury. “I think it best we keep you and Miss Dubrovna close together, they will like come for you together and we can pool our resources, we don't have the man power of SHIELD to spread out, keep the Maximoffs and Rogers close” Bucky nods not really listening.

........................................

Steve stands with Natasha as they watch Irina pull on her catsuit, orders to not let her out of their sight, which of course meant seeing his former friend and love of his life in her underwear, he'd only ever seen it once before, she had been his first and he hers, that was all not long before Erskine had decided on him for Project Rebirth, he and Selina had only just started dating when it all happened, he was suppose to spend the rest of his life with her, he watches as Irina pauses and stares blankly at the wall ahead of her, Natasha frowns placing her hand on her pistol, Steve places his hand on Natasha's arm and shakes his head.

“Bucky gets like that sometimes, when he is remembering” He whispers to not spook Irina. “Give her a minute” he moves to the feline female and gently places a hand on her shoulder, she jerks a little before looking up at him. “What was it?”

“Fireworks, I remember fireworks” she looks up at the ceiling her eyes blanking out again. “Me and Buck we used to sit under this tree with this boy” she frowns. “Smaller” she looks to him, stares him in the eyes. “Steve” he nods. “You were smaller” he chuckles and she smiles a little.

“Yeah, I was” he reaches for her face. “You saw me like this a few times, bigger” she stares at him with a frown.

“I don't.....” she blinks and creases her forehead. “I don't remember”

“It's okay, you will get there” she nods a little and Natasha clears her throat and Steve steps back.

“You should get a move on before Fury...”

“Yeah” Steve nods and grabs Irina's duffle bag from the floor, the two of them passing Natasha and heading for the elevator.

 

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

Steve glances around at the abandoned psychiatric hospital with a frown, Irina takes her bag from him and throws it over the fence, she steps back before taking off at a run and bolting over the fence, landing in a crouch, she stands and looks back at Steve raising an eyebrow, he looks around before following after her. He lands at her side as she grabs her duffle and pushes open the door just a crack so she can slide in, Steve follows only just squeezing in after her, the whole place is cold, dark, smells dead, he looks to Irina/Selina with pity, and a little heartbreak that just cause she was once on the wrong side this is how she is living. He follows her silently as she moves through the hall and into a large room, their is a fire in the center of the room and in front of it a tiger fur with pillows and blankets, she moves to the corner where a small safe sat. Steve moves to the small bowl of trinkets on the side and rummages through them, each item was of course feline related, even if none of them were very expensive, he pauses on one item and pulls it up by it's chain, a soft warm smile etched onto his lips.

“ _Happy Birthday Lina”_ _Selina smiles up at Steve as he pulls the locket around her neck, her fingers find the locket._

“ _Thank you Steve” she turns and reaches up on her tiptoes to press her lips to his, he blushes and looks away, Selina chuckles. “You do that every time Steve” she gently takes his hand and squeezes._

“ _Can I ask you something?” She takes his hand as they walk along the park path._

“ _You can ask me anything”_

“ _Why me?” she pauses to look at him, and he finds himself staring back, her unique amber eyes always had that effect on him._

“ _It's simple Steve....because I love you”_ Steve blinks and looks down at the locket in his hand, Irina/Selina snatches it off him and moves back to the safe.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have” he is quick to apologise, she tucks it into her utility belt and remains impassive.

“Shouldn't have” she gives him a look before pulling a collection of files from the safe and then tucking a memory stick into another pocket, she kicks the door shut and then thrusts the files at Steve as she gathers clothing from around the room and shoving them into her duffle bag.

“You know we have things you could use back at the tower”

“I want my things” she mumbles pulling something to her chest, her eyes distant again. Steve places the files down and moves to her, pulling at her hands gently to take the item from her hands.

“You kept it” he whispers smoothing out the edges of a sketch he had drawn of her, it is now covered in creases off being folded and unfolded over and over again over the last 70 years. His fingers trace the lines of Selina's face as Irina turns to face him. She takes the sketch from him, gently this time and folds it into a tiny square and tucking it inside her suit.

“We should get back” her voice is quiet, but there is a warmth there, something he hadn't even noticed was missing. She peers up at him as his fingers find her neck, then her jaw. And then suddenly they are kissing, neither one sure who started it, Steve's arm wraps around her waist pulling her closer as she wraps her arms around his neck, he pushes her back till she is up against the wall, boxing her in so she couldn't escape him, his hands find her thighs and pulls her legs up around his waist. She pulls back. “No” she shakes her head. “I don't...” she pats his chest pushing him back. “I don't remember” he takes her wrists as she stares up into his blue eyes. “I don't remember”

“I know, I'm sorry” he rubs small circles into her wrist. “I won't do it again” she nods and relaxes a little before looking away, a tear running down her cheek.

“I remember but I don't....” she frowns, pausing. “You feel familiar” he squeezes her hand and steps back.

“It's a start” he gently takes a strand of her hair and move to grab the files from the table. “Come on before it get's dark” she nods and grabs her duffle and following him out the run down building.

...............................

Wanda pulls Irina into a hug which the feline remained stiff for, Pietro and Bucky stand near, ready, just in case.

“It'll be great having you here Irina”

“It's not like I had a choice” Irina pulls back and moves to sit on the sofa, stiff as she looks around, Steve sighs and moves to Bucky.

“You should have seen where she was living Buck” he whispers to his friend. “It was an old abandoned psychiatric institute” Steve runs his fingers through his hair. “Jeez Buck it was horrible” Wanda pulls a cartoon from the fridge and fills a glass with it's contents, Bucky smiles at his girlfriend as she moves to Irina, Bucky looks to Steve.

“She's here Steve”

“She's remembering more as well” Steve and Bucky lean on the counter with Pietro as they watch the two woman. “Do you remember the locket I gave her for her 25th?”

“Yeah, she never took it off”

“She's still got it, I don't think she knows why she keeps it but she got upset when I touched it”

“She knows it's important” Pietro points out. The two super-soldiers nod. They three of them jump when glass shatters and Irina jumps away from the tv. Wanda holds up her hand to stop them from jumping towards.

“Turn it off!” Irina cringes and covers her ears, tv in a store window, easily dealt with there was a thick layer of glass between her and the voices and given that her ears are sensitive to electronic noise, tvs and radios are a big no no. Wanda is quick to turn off the tv as Irina whimpers covering her ears. Her fingers twitch over her ears as her eyes flicker around the room.

“It's alright, It's off” Irina backs away until she is pressed against the glass. Bucky watches heartbroken at his sister before stepping closer to her.

“Lina” she whimpers and covers her ears. “Tell us what's wrong”

“My ears, it's hurts my ears” Wanda and Pietro share a look.

“She's part feline, sensitive hearing” Pietro states looking to Irina with understanding, he and Wanda of course were HYDRA experiments. Bucky moves to his sister and places his hands over hers before pulling her to his chest.

“What did they do to you Lina?” it's rhetorical cause he really isn't sure he wants to know what they put her through, she clings to her brother as he and Steve share a sympathetic look.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Irina sits on the medical table cautiously, Stark and Banner are busy grabbing what ever they require for these tests Fury had demanded, Steve and Bucky had both demanded they be there as well, both it seems falling into their protective rolls like it hasn't been 70 years, Dr Banner pushes his chair closer to the table and holds out his hand.

“May I have your arm?” Irina looks to her arm then to Bruce's outstretched hand. She looks to Bucky who nods, Irina hands over her arm to Bruce, who rubbed a cotton swab over her arm. “We're just going to take some blood” Bruce watches her carefully as Tony hands him a needle, they had hooked her up to the heart rate monitor when she first sate down, easy, no needles, now there is needles, the four men look to the monitor as what had been her steady heart rate skyrockets as Bruce presses the needle to her arm. “You may feel...”

“I'm not a child” she snaps and takes his hand pressing it further onto her arm. “Just get on with it” Bucky moves and pulls Irina's hand off Bruce's when he sees the Doc's eyes flicker green.

“Lina” she looks to Bucky and Bucky waves for the doc to hurry on with it. Bruce is quick to take the blood samples and hand them off to Tony. She sits still while they run a few more tests but when it comes to X-rays she snarls and backs up, she can already tell it's going to be loud on her ears. Her fingers twitch up towards her head and Steve gently takes her hands.

“It's okay, you don't have to do anything you don't want to” Only Steve and Bucky felt that way, Tony jammed her in the neck with a tranq and Irina collapses, Bucky is quick to grab Tony's throat and push him against the wall as Steve pulls Irina up into his arms.

“I'm sick of people jabbing my sister” Bucky snarls.

“Fury said all test no matter how we got them” Bruce states though he looks apologetic. “I'm sorry but this is just easier”

“Doesn't make it right, she's not an experiment” Steve explains placing Irina down on the bed again brushing the hair from her face.

“Sorry Steve” Bucky drops Stark and paces Irina's side.

...............................

Outside the Avengers Tower, the grey light of very early morning engulfs the trees. They sway in the wind, their leaves blowing every which way. A few droplets of rain splatter against the window spanning the length of the wall. Irina glances at the clock behind her, it reads 2:37. Sighing, she presses a thumb and forefinger to the bridge of her nose. Her eyes are heavy, so heavy, but closing them only makes it worse. The noise. All the noise. Thunder rumbles through the building, followed by a quick crack of lightning. Beyond that is the never ending hum of miles-away traffic. And within the tower, a snores, moans, tears. She could hear all of it, all the time. The ice in her whiskey clinks against the glass as she reaches for it, then nestle back into the couch. She presses the cool surface to her cheek. Sometimes it helps, the cold. Cryo sounds like a dream to her, though maybe that’s a callous thing to think. It doesn’t surprise her when footsteps settle in the doorway, though she can’t see who it is. She doesn’t need to. That gait, the sound of of him slinking along, his painful politeness almost a sound she can hear by now.

“Steve,” She greets, she's met with a gentle snort of breath through his nose.

“Nothing gets by you, huh?”

“Not a thing.” She wonders if he notices the wryness of her comment. “What are you doing up?”

“Oh, I, uh…” He stumbles over the words, stepping over to a cabinet. She hears it open, the crinkling of the coffee bag. “Thought I would get some gym time in.” It’s her turn to snort, brows furrowing at the absurdity of his statement.

“At 3am?” she finally turns to peek over the sofa to watch him. His back is turned to her, shoulders broad and tightly packed into his grey shirt. It clings to his muscles, and she rolls her eyes away, to anything but him.

“You’re one to judge. You’re awake, too, Lina.” He turns around, resting against the counter with his arms crossed as his coffee brews. “What’s got you drinking whiskey at 3am?” She turns away from him, toward the window as the rain pelts it harder now.

“Nothing gets by you, huh?” She redirects his own words back at him. The sharp, chalky sound of a coffee mug being pulled from the cabinet grates against her ears, then the slosh of coffee pouring.

“Want to talk about it?” he asks delicately, politely. She isn't sure there’s anything to really talk about, but some company would be nice if her body won’t let her sleep.

“Okay.” His feet whisper on the floor. Outside, thunder rumbles again. Steve sits beside her, a spear of lightning making his blue eyes almost glow iridescent as they fall on Irina, shining with concern. He’s close, really close, his knee almost touching hers as he crosses one ankle over the other knees. He quirks a brow.

“I’m all ears.” That stupid puppy dog smile. Irina turns away, twirling the glass in her hand. The ice clink, clink, clinks. The liquid is viscous within, a sheen like gasoline lingering on the surface.

“I can’t sleep,” She concedes “It’s been days”

“Days?”

“Since I moved in.....five days” She focuses on the rain outside, sweeping through the trees, and avoid Steve’s worried look. Somewhere, many miles away, an ambulance blares through the streets.

“And whiskey helps?”

“I hoped. But here we are.” She finally turn to face him, and there’s something so soft in his gaze. It makes her want to turn away again. He nods slowly.

“Well…I’m not actually going to the gym.” Irina laughs softly, biting her lip as she glances towards his bare feet.

“I gathered that, unless you typically train shoe less and in your pajamas.”

“What can I say? The suit can be constricting.” He smiles down at her. There’s a lull in the conversation, and it’s not unfriendly. Steve gulps his coffee, and the rain is soothing.

“I can hear everything,” She tell him, and he glances questioningly at her. “It’s why I can’t sleep.”

“Your enhanced hearing,” he clarifies, to which she nods.

“Several miles away, there’s been a wreck. A few minutes ago, the ambulance arrived on the scene. A woman. She fell asleep driving. They’re putting a neck brace on her as we speak. Natasha is in bed reading; she’s turned the page twelve times since you sat on the couch. Tony is snoring—loudly. Wanda and Bucky are talking, quietly. Pietro is watching something I won’t mention, lest I offend your propriety. You woke up an hour ago. I heard you cry out my name, and then lay there—maybe deciding whether to sleep or get up, maybe deciding something else.” She glances at him, afraid of what she’ll find there. “It’s the third time this week.” Steve’s eyes are very serious, and he exhales.

“Wow.” Now she's done it.

“I’m sorry,” she says quickly. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you or pry… It’s just, I can’t tune it out—God, I want to—and when you listen to someone long enough you try to figure them out. Their habits, their feelings, what they’re thinking in that very moment.” She glances away from him. Maybe she's already said too much. Steve takes another drink of coffee.

“I can’t imagine. What helps you sleep?” She laughs darkly.

“Before…” Before the tower. “Honestly, sleeping pills, lots of sleeping pills, morphine…men” She glances at him to see if he understands the implication of those things. His face flushes the daintiest pink colour. She sets her whiskey glass on the table, her fingers icy in its absence. It's watered down now and she has no stomach for it anyway. “I'm just......screwed up” That tenderness is back in his gaze and she isn't sure what that look means.

“I think we all are in our own ways.” He hesitates. “I don’t have sleeping pills or morphine, but…maybe I could help you sleep?” Her head whips towards him, eyebrows inching to her hairline as her heart skips a wild beat. “Not like that!” he quickly amends. “I mean, would it help if someone slept beside you?” Probably not, but if Captain America offers to sleep with you, it’s your civic duty to say yes.

“Maybe,” she concedes quietly. He sets down his half-empty coffee cup, pulling her into his arms as he lays back on the couch. His skin is so warm against hers. Stiffly, she settles into his embrace. His heart pounds under her ear, heartbeat slightly more elevated than usual. His muscles envelop her, holding her in place against his strong chest. He smells like aftershave and something distinctly Steve, familiar. “Mm,” she mumbles into his shirt. Nothing has felt this good in a long time. Even if she doesn't sleep, she doesn't don’t mind staying here for a while. Steve chuckles, the rumble low in his chest.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” she sighs against him. His fingers rub circles against her back, and outside the rain falls in a steady rhythm.

“Sorry if I snore.” He sounds sleepy now.

“Don’t worry. You don’t,” she says closing her eyes.

 


	9. Chapter 9

Bruce gently places the small device onto Irina's ear, she cringes a little, still not 100% comfortable with being touched by the doctor after her last round of tests, he flicks a switch at the back.

“Try that” she nods and moves to the the small tv that Stark had dragged in for these tests, Steve had gone to Bruce and Tony about her hearing and sleeping problem so Stark had come up with some noise dulling hearing aids, which would set her hearing back to normal human levels so she could watch tv or use a cell phone without it feeling like her ears will bleed. Tony holds the remote and looks to Irina who nods, Tony switches on the tv and Irina waits for the onslaught. Nothing. She can hear the tv and it doesn't sound like nails on a chalk board, she smiles and looks to Stark who looks smug, she jumps down and hugs him.

“You're not going to kiss me again are you?” she chuckles and shakes her head stepping back.

“Thank you Tony” she raises a hand to her ear feeling the hearing aid, an exact replica in her other ear.

...........................

Irina with her new hearing aids throws on one of Bucky's oversized hoodies she had borrowed, the tower had no fire like her psychiatric hospital which usually kept her warm but the tower was colder for the feline, she pulls on the thick socks and leg warmers Wanda and Natasha had leant her and then shuffles out the room with a blanket towards the living room where the others had gathered for a movie, Steve, the twins and Bucky look at the state of her and chuckle she rolls her eyes and takes the free space next to Steve as Tony holds up a dvd, he plans an education for the pensioner that hadn't been able to watch films cause of her hearing. Bruce looks to her and taps his ears, Irina reaches up and switches them on.

“The Incredibles?” Bruce asks skeptically. “Aren’t we a little old for Pixar?” Stark inhales dramatically and clutches at his chest.

“Have you no soul, Banner?! What kind of person doesn’t like Pixar movies?”

“The kind that finds playing with electrons in a lab and reading textbooks all day fun,” Natasha remarks, smirking slightly.

“Ha ha,” Bruce snarks back, nudging the redhead gently with his shoulder. The rest of the team comes filing in, and there is the familiar rush of wind before the DVD is snatched from Tony's hands.

“The Incredibles?” Pietro asked. “This is a children’s movie, no?” Grabbing the DVD back from him, Tony replies

“You’re goddamn right it is, but it’s hilarious and I think you all just need to simmer down and give it a chance.” Pietro holds up his hands in protest.

“Hey, I wasn’t saying it won’t be good. Come,” he and Wanda sit together. Steve wraps an arm around Irina careful of her reaction, but she just snuggles closer to him, he sighs, relaxing against her. He kisses the top of her head.

“Hey, lovebirds, cut it out. Trying to watch a movie here,” Tony says, flicking a piece of popcorn across the couch. Lazily flipping him off, Irina turns her attention to the screen.

Everyone seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the movie; even the usually reserved Wanda is letting out a few giggles. Watching Dash run around the kitchen table only to be stopped by Violet’s force field, Irina's heart skipped a beat as Sam jumps up off the couch yelling,

“OH, SHIT!”

“What the hell?” Clint, Bucky and Steve look up in confusion.

“Do you guys not see this?!” Sam is literally jumping up and down pointing at the screen. He looks like an excited 5-year-old on Christmas. “Those kids are the twins!” Everyone turns to swivel their heads back and forth from the screen to Pietro and Wanda. Collectively, they all let out exclamations of dawning realizations.

“Oh my god,” Tony yells out. “You guys act the same, you have the same powers … YOU EVEN HAVE THE SAME HAIR!” Pietro and Wanda both stare intently at the screen for a few moments. The twins both looked at each other before for a full second then burst out in unison,

“It’s you!” Laughing and falling back into her chair, Wanda murmurs in Sokovian. Pietro looks like he is torn between laughing and screaming.

“What’d she say?” Bruce asks, Pietro lets out a laugh and runs his hands through his hair.

“She asked if HYDRA actually engineered us to be the real life versions of two cartoon characters” They all sit there not knowing how to reply until Tony breaks the silence.

“Those unoriginal bastards.” The team erupts into laughter. Wanda looks up at her brother from her boyfriend's side.

“At least they’re good characters,” she says. “And,” grinning slightly, “we definitely have Halloween costumes picked out for next year” the team chuckles.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

Bucky watches as Natasha rounds Irina who just stands still, though her eyes track the redhead assassin. Steve stands beside Bucky with his arms over his chest, Wanda sat on the floor in front of them with Pietro, Stark and Banner are close but no as close as the others, and Clint sits on top of the lockers across the room.

“Fury wants us to test your skill” Irina looks to Bucky and rolls her eyes, the Winter Soldier smirks, from behind her Natasha throws her arm out to punch, Irina spins and crouches dodging the blow. After the it's a blur of fists and feet until Irina has Natasha on her back, Bucky and Steve smirk as Pietro laughs. Bucky pushes himself up off the wall and smirks.

“My turn” he states as Natasha moves to the side lines rubbing her back.

“Buck” Steve looks between the Barnes twins with concern. Bucky waves him off.

“We'll be fine” and it is incredible, the two former HYDRA assets are perfect matches for one another, she has agility, speed, flexibilty, Bucky, strength, his size, his metal arm. Bucky grunts as he lands on his back, Irina having jumped and kicked him in his chest sending him back towards the mat as she back flips into a crouch, Bucky chuckles as Irina smirks down at him. He holds up his human hand and she reaches top pull him up only he pulls her down next to him. Natasha, Clint, Banner and Stark leave with Wanda and Pietro, Bucky looks up across at Steve and pats the space on the other side of Irina. “Sit Punk” Steve moves and lay with them on the floor. “How's your hearing Lina?”

“Better” she reaches up to the hearing aids. “Stark made me noise canceling hearing aids” Bucky smiles at her. “I can sleep now” Bucky smirks. “What?”

“Nothing” he leans closer to kiss her head. “Missed you” he whispers and she gives him a sad smile as she curled closer to hg him.

“Missed you too Buck” he wraps his arms around her squeezing tight before letting her go, she rolls back onto her back, her fingers finding Steve's at her side. He threads his fingers with hers and she turns to look at him with a smile. Bucky smiling warmly at them.

.................

Steve leans over the back of the sofa watching a confused Irina as she turns the remote in her hand, now she could watch tv it was pretty much all she tired to do, though she still struggles with the controller.

“Stteeeevvveee” she whines holding it out to him.

“Llliinnaaa” he whines back smirking.

“How do I change the channel?” he smiles and takes it from her before showing her, again, how to change the channel. “Thank you” he moves to sit beside her placing the bowl of popcorn he had grabbed from the side as she finds the channel she wants, Steve places the bowl into her lap, her legs crossed and a blanket pulled over her short clad legs, Steve pulls the other blanket off the back of the sofa to wrap around the both of them.

“What did you decide on?” she leans her head against his shoulder.

“Bruce said to try Doctor Who” Steve's arm wraps around her waist. This is almost back to normal for them, before the serum, before the ice, before HYDRA and superheroes. Of course way back when it wouldn't have been in front of the tv, it was the radio and they would sit and watches the stars, she always loved the stars. She places the popcorn in his lap before she pulls her legs up under her self and curls into his side. They were both thoroughly confused by the end of the episode, the two 90 odd year olds both frown at the screen as the credits run. It takes them both a minute or two to compose themselves before Steve starts laughing, Irina frowns and looks up at him. He pulls her to him tighter as he laughs. “What's so funny?” she asks frowning and pushing herself to her knees at his side.

“Just remember when the weirdest thing to do with science......was me” her face softens and she stares at him. He brushes his fingers over her cheek and his laughter dies out, his features turning serious. “Lina.....If I had been around instead of off fighting do you think that....do you think you would have gone away?” she stares at him before sighing.

“Steve.....I don't remember how I ended up with them.....” her eyes become distant. “But I remember you and Buck....more now than when I first came here, and I remember that you wanted to fight, you didn't like sitting at home whilst Buck and everyone else was out there, fighting” he smiles softly at her. “I remember the day you came to me, to tell me about Project Rebirth, you were so happy” she looks to him with a sad smile. “I'd never seen you that happy before, if you had stayed...with me, you would have been miserable.....I think in the end, we still would have drifted, Buck would have died earlier, you wouldn't have been there to rescue him and the others from that base” she leans closer. “You wouldn't be here......” she takes his hand from her face. “And I wouldn't be here, everything happens for a reason” he chuckles and smiles at her, he had said the same thing to her when he told her goodbye the first time, Steve squeezes her hand before he leans closer and presses his lips to hers, she stiffens a little and he pulls back.

“I'm sorry” he moves to stand but she pulls him back and climbs onto his lap to kiss him. Her hands on his neck as his grab her waist. He kisses her back and it is like they have been starved for the last 70 years, an arm wraps around her back and pulls her body closer to his, she fits against him perfectly, like she did even before the serum. She pulls back to rest her forehead against his, both of them breathless and silent. His free hand cups her cheek and he traces his thumb under her eye. “Lina” he whispers like a pray against her lips.

“I remember you” she whispers back, this is more than just her remembering her friend Steve, this is her remembering them, him and her, she remembers how much she loved him.

“Hey, It's okay” he brushes the tears that are now falling from her cheek. “It's okay” she closes her eyes and he kisses her again, soft, gently, a whisper against her lips, when he pulls back she nuzzles into his neck with his arms wrapped tight around her, he kisses her head and then her cheek, her amber eyes watching him.

"Steve?"

"Yeah, Lina?"

"I'm sorry" he frowns looking down at her.

"What for?"

"For running away" he leans closer to her to and gently presses his lips to her.

"You're here now" she nods against his shoulder and he brushes her hair over his shoulder, yawning she closes her eyes and he rests his head against hers as they both settle into the silence, comfortable.

 

 


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SMUT!!!!!!! THIS AND THE NEXT CHAPTER.....YOU CAN SKIP IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT....

Irina is mainly joking, teasing when she asks if Steve'd dance with her to some of the old records, it was a joke she secretly wanted to actually happen but is worried that he is going to flat out refuse, but then his eyes light up and he becomes the excited little Stevie that she had fallen for all those years ago, so she makes it serious, he gently places her of the sofa beside him and then hurries out the room down the corridor where the bedrooms are, Irina glances around wondering where every one else is, she hadn't seen any of them since she and Steve settled on the sofa (Wanda had warned them, Tony and Clint mostly, to leave them both be for the night, so the other Avengers had gone out to the movies) Steve returns with a turntable before leaving the room again to carry out a box of records, she vaults over the sofa to peer at his collection, her fingers finding one and she smiles, she looks to Steve who starts blushing and looking away. She chuckles and places it back, it was the record they had both lost their virginity to, she had been surprised at the time when sweet, caring Steve had told her that he was a virgin, and then he had had the same reaction with her, that some was as beautiful, kind, caring and sweet as she was was still a virgin, she's brought out of her memory when the music starts and he extends his hands out to her, his smile warm and welcoming. There's no hesitation in taking them, and he pulls her in, not too close. The dance is simple, and Irina inhales his scent deeply: pomade, a musk that reminds her of pine, and clean unscented soap, he smells just like home. It makes her heart dance right along with her feet. He keeps a distance between their bodies as the songs go on, and she aches to close it. On the last song, she relaxes into his strong arms, and shyly turns her face upward to kiss him. He responds to her, splaying his palms against her back and delving into the kiss.

“You’re the first girl I’ve gotten this close to in a while.......well since you”

“You poor thing. I don't know how that happened” She whispers softly. She strokes his bottom lip as he, unintentionally, gives her puppy dog eyes. "You're a catch", She adds with a grin. He is so pretty to her, his big eyes and soft, pink lips. He smiles down at her warmly, raising his eyebrows, charmed by her.

"You think so?" Steve strokes her hips with his fingertips, inquisitively watching her response. She smiles and looks away. Was this him asking for more? She feels the smile on her face turn from coy to devious. She chuckles anyway as she turns her gaze back to his.

"Absolutely.....even before the serum Steve" His hands go back to behaving, and they keep dancing.

“I hope I’m doing alright,” he murmurs. His grin turns firmly nervous, but sweet. Irina's not sure if he means touching her, kissing her, or dancing with her. The vinyl record stops, the needle moves back into it’s default position.

“You’ve been great.”

“I’m just embarrassed.” She raises her eyebrows. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. He is a pretty solid dancer, and he never was a bad kisser.

“Why’s that?” Steve sighs heavily.

“I’m still not very--experienced. At all. In any of—this. Thinking about it, reading--it's different than having you in my arms” she reaches up and kisses him again, gently, just a touch of their two lips together. He read?

“Steve?” he glances to her. “Other than when we.......have you?” he blushes and sighs.

“No....no one else” he replies, a twinge of shame in his voice. "It’s not very Captain America of me, I know." He looks at his feet, and she strokes his jaw to reassure him.

“Says who?”

“Says the vets who ask how many women I’ve bedded, if anyone’s asked for me to wear the uniform while we make love, all the men and women who wanna take me home with them but think of me as--I don't know. A Boy Scout.” He sounds annoyed, like he’s been waiting to lay that out to someone and she's the first one to listen. He sighs, and meets her eyes again. “I don’t think that way at all. That's all—ridiculous” She kisses him gently, a bit deeper than before. He hums, seemingly content, and she presses a kiss on his cheek. Before he can speak again, she makes a trail of kisses down to his neck. She looks up into his eyes, as if she's asking permission, and he bursts into a smile. She takes that as 'I like it'.

“You haven’t had much time to play the field, anyway.” He chuckles.

“I’ve had a lot to clean up” their lips meet again and he moans, outright moans, and she grazes her nails across his arms. She cups his face and he wraps his arms around her, his hands at the small of her back.

“Would you like to--”, She asks.

“Yes. I had been thinking about that.....with you but......yes. Definitely."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I hope that's not--"

"No, not at all."

"I don't wanna screw this up" she looks up at him and she sees he is worried she's going to freak out on him again.

"You won't, I promise” she goes back to kissing his neck, and she nips at his skin as it goes red with her teeth marks. Steve groans in response, and she starts to worry she is doing a bit too much to start. “Let me know if you want me to stop doing something” she adds.

"Yeah, but--I like this--the biting” She rubs her hands across his pecs, making sure the heel of her palm goes across his covered nipples, he hums again, and she lets her fingers trail across his chest.

“You like that?” He nods wordlessly, eyelids heavy. A few more times, and he looks divine, All open mouth and blissful eyes. Upping the ante, she lets her thigh brush against his bulge. She moves him, gently, to the wall they're closest to, and it gives her leverage to press against him. “You’re so hot when you’re flustered” She whispers breathily.

“Yeah? Well, I can't--”, and she gives him another kiss to quiet him. He smiles, and she moves her hands to the bottom of his shirt, she pulls back to pull it over his head before she steadily kiss his neck, she lets the shirt fall from her fingers and the strokes his arms, admiring them.

“You seem to like those.”

"Have you seen yourself?”

“Yeah", he smiles wryly. "You get used to it” she chuckles and he kisses her again. A hand strokes down her back and brushes against her butt, eliciting a moan from her. She pulls down his tank top and breaks the kiss to stroke the full width of her tongue against his nipple, circling it as he shivers. It's something most men wouldn't let her indulge in, but Steve isn't pushing her away, so she continues. He watches as she uses her other hand to rub the neglected nipple. She licks up, back to his beautiful neck and strong shoulders, kissing and biting carefully. It's fun to watch him squirm under her touch. She cups his erection again, stroking it idly, looking up into his eyes, his eyelashes concealing how big his pupils are. His moans are low and wanton, and she decides to stop teasing him. She undoes the buckle of his brown leather belt, unzip his jeans and reach inside. It's so quick she barely realize she's done it, not breaking eye contact with him. Steve’s erection is already straining against his briefs, and she comes up to kiss his mouth again as she strokes it. The moan in response makes her kiss him again.

“Good?” She asks. He nods.

"Great." She holds back looking so eager to have him on top of her, to put what she has in her hand in her mouth. That will happen at some point tonight, and she has time. Time she intends to enjoy fully. “You’re not naked yet,” he whispers, disappointed.

“You're right--I got a little carried away.” Steve smiles.

“You did, but I don't mind. Can I--undress you?”

“Of course you can”, She responds. Steve’s hands go to the hem of her top. As he pulls it off her, his hands stroke her bare skin, making her sigh happily. His palms feel rough, but right on her. As she sets the garment aside, Steve pulls her close and kisses her cleavage and collarbone, nipping lightly. It takes her by surprise, but she moans gently as he continues. He’s repeating what she did to him, which she finds more cute then she should. He soon takes his lips onto her neck, sucking gently and pressing his body against hers. She loves having her neck kissed, and moan loudly at the steady attention. He grabs her butt again, then leads his hands up her back to unsnap her bra. He fiddles with it, momentarily, but stops and looks at her.

“I kinda can't do this blind." She turns around so he can get a good look at the hook-and-eye closures. It's quick, and she lets her bra slide off her shoulders and toss it next to Steve’s shirt. She turns back around and watched his eyebrows raise, his happy smile. It's cute. Steve cups her breasts, and gently strokes her nipples, before kissing her again. She's on fire as she wants to take him now but she keeps the pace as is. Maybe next time she can be a little more eager. She moans softly as he squeezes her breasts, gently, thumbing her nipples. With no warning, he picks her up into his arms, allowing his mouth to get closer to her nipples. He takes one into his mouth, and it feels hot and warm and perfect.

“Steve!” She moans. He stops and looks up at her.

“Was that not okay?”, he responds with concern.

“Just--surprising."

"Sorry." His face is apologetic as he goes back to work. Her hands fist into his hair and she attempts to grind her hips against him, but it's difficult when she is neatly trapped in his arms, she really really wants to take her pants off and have his hands elsewhere. “I should take these off”, he murmurs, setting her down again and getting on his knees. Oh, God, stroking his face against her belly, he undoes her shorts, and pulls them off without removing her underwear. His face grazes her skin, nose brushing up against her hips, burying his face between her thighs. A surprised moan escapes her mouth as he mouths her underwear, tongue eagerly licking through the fabric. She shakes while still standing and he responds, hands gripping her hips to keep her stable as he keeps sucking.

“H-hold on…” She manages to get out. He stops and looks up at her, though still strokes his nose against her thigh.

 

 


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SMUT!!!!!!!!

She reaches for his hand and he takes it, standing she pulls him down the hall towards his bedroom, which just happened to be next to hers, inside she turns to him.

“Take off your pants.” He does as he’s told, and she watch as he pulls his jeans down to his knees, getting a good look at how gorgeous his cock looks in his blue briefs, the growing puddle of precum obvious. He pulls off his socks along with his pants, and she smiles.. It’s a sight she had to drink in. This superhuman being hard for her, of all people. In response, she falls back on the bed and wriggle off her panties. Steve takes in the sight, stroking her hips again before carefully spreading her legs and licking her clit. It is unskilled, he licks her hesitantly, before he softens up and takes more of her on his tongue, moaning as he tastes her. His tongue strokes against her clit, using the full width of it to catch her inner labia as well. She moans softly, letting a hand come up and cup her own breast. He looks up at her with hopeful eyes, and she simply smile back. “Press harder--” He presses his tongue against her a bit harder, and his hands reach up to cup her breasts, stroking her nipples. She moans and watch him as he slips his tongue inside of her, lips tickling her gently. She sighs happily and cup his hands over her chest. Slowly, Steve takes to fucking her with his tongue, keeping it thick and stiff. She feel he’s investigated this a little more than he lets on. But she doesn't care, even less when he focuses on her g-spot. Her hands go to his head, and he switches from tonguing her to slipping two fingers inside her slowly. He laps at her clit again as his other hand slips away. She imagine he’s touching himself, something she rather would like to see, but he is doing all the right things to her and she can always come back to that. His fingers focus on her g-spot again, and she moans loudly, letting her head fall back onto the soft bed, keeping his hair in a tight grip. She feels too close to coming, and don’t want this to end so soon. She gently pulls his face away from her, he looks up at you confused, his mouth sticky. He, absent-mindedly, licks his lips. The sight alone makes her quiver.

“Everything alright? I thought I was doing okay…”

“You were” She coos. “C’mere”, she adds, patting the bed. He eagerly climbs onto the bed, and without her asking, removes his briefs. It’s not like she didn’t notice they were half-off already. She takes a nice, long look at his cock. He kneels next to her, and she sits up to kneel in front of him, stroking her hand across his erection. “Were you jerking off down there?” She teases with a smirk.

“A little...It was nice to listen to you.”

“Don’t be ashamed” She replies, curling her fingers around his cock. Steve whimpers and kisses her, she can taste herself on him and she wants to guide all of him into her, watch his erratic first-time rhythm progress to the smoothness she knows he has in him. But she holds back, continuing to stroke him and kiss him. He moans into her mouth, and she sighs happily. “How about you lay down?" He smiles, and does exactly as she asks, looks back up at her eagerly. She's a bit taken by the sight, again, and crawls next to him. “I think you've been researching a little more than you've let on.” Steve hesitates with a shy smile.

"Possibly. I wanted to.....since you came back"

"Even if you knew nothing, I'd be happy"

"Really?"

"Of course, Steve. What kind of person do you think I am?" He shakes his head.

"You're right. You would be happy with me either way” he presses a hand to her cheek. “Always were” she hums in agreement and slowly bends down, taking his cock back in her hands and licking a stripe down the underside. His moan is hoarse, lustful, and just what she wanted to hear. She positions herself between his legs, so he can watch her better and she can get a good look at him. She encircles the head of him with her tongue, taking his balls in hand to stroke with her thumb. His thighs tense around her as she keeps sucking, taking time to occasionally lick his testicles just to watch him squirm more. He whimpers her name, helplessly, playing with her hair, catching her eyes whenever she looks up. Which seems to turn him on more, she notes gleefull, the taste of him in her mouth is pleasant, and she doesn't mind swallowing the drops of precum he keeps leaking. When she swallows, he sighs happily, so she tries to do it more frequently than needed. She keeps a steady pace with half his cock in her mouth, the rest in her hand, and keep the rhythm steady. She's only able to fit all of him in her mouth a few times, sucking so hard her cheeks hollow. He looks at her like he’ll come right there when you do. “I’ll finish if you keep that up”, he says quietly. Moving herself away is tough, but she instead crawl on top of him and straddle his torso. She kisses him again, gentle and slow, he licks in her mouth as if he’s eager to taste her marked by him.

“What do you want to do next?”

“I want to be inside of you. If--if that’s alright with you, I mean--” She kisses him him to shut him up, though her kiss is gentle.

“Yes. Yes. That's just what I want” He grins, and makes a motion to get out from under her, but stops with a look of concern.

“Can I be on top of you?” She smiles.

“Yeah” she flops back on the bed and hitch her legs up, spreading them to fit Steve's hips. His palms take to stroking her legs as he adjusts himself. As he gets back up to her hips, he lets his thumb circle her clit. He looks up at her, and she just smiles and chuckles.

“Am I doing something wrong?”

“No, it feels nice--just unexpected”

“It didn’t make sense not to touch you again after you spent so long with me.”

“I didn’t need it. Watching you was enough.” He moves his hands away back to her hips, and bends down to kiss her again. But as he brings her hips closer, he hesitates again. “Are you nervous?”

“It’s stupid. I’ve gotten this far......” His fingers stroke her cheek. “Lina” She strokes his shoulder, down to his arms, and over his hands that still grip her hips.

“If you wanna turn back, we can.”

“I really want this. I really want you” she moans softly.

“I really want you, too” He takes his hand down to his cock and guides himself into her. The first hint of him makes her gasp, spread her legs wider as they both watch each other react. Steve bites his lip, strokes his hands up to her shoulders, and slides into her completely. She groans, automatically wrapping her legs around him. Irina and Steve share warm smiles and relish the moment.

“Alright?”, he murmurs.

“Better than that” She coos back. His first few strokes are careful, nervous. He looks to her face for guidance, and goes slowly. She still has her hands on her breasts, still playing with her nipples as he figures out what he wants to do. His grip firms a bit, and he uses his hips alone to piston in and out. She moans, quivers, as he feels really fantastic and fills her up just right, and for the first time in years, decades she feels complete. Steve goes faster, his thrusts haphazard and with the slightest semblance of togetherness at first. After a few dozen, he gathers a bit of finesse, sliding against her, taking to arching up as he hits her half-way point. He keeps his hips closer, beginning to not pull out much at all. She is worked into a sweaty frenzy, they both are, Steve’s hair droops more and a slight sheen of sweat develops across his torso. She wraps her arms around him, pulling him down with her to share a passionate kiss. She can’t help but close her eyes, find all the right spots he hits at any given moment in her focus. She begins to bounce back against him, which takes him by surprise, but he quickly responds to her actions by thrusting harder. Her moans are a little shameless, loud, sometimes not moaning at all and just looking at his beautiful, concentrating face with an open mouth. “Yes, Cap!” He stops, quirks one eyebrow and smirks.

“Did you just call me ‘Cap’?” She freezes, she kind of wishes he isn't inside of her while he looks as if he is trying to repress a chuckle.

“I’m sorry. I got—um--" And he laughs. Irina represses the urge to crawl into a hole.

"Is that something you're into? Maybe I'll wear the suit next time.....If you wear yours"

"Tease."

"You're the one that started it," he grins. He goes back to thrusting her, slowly all over again. She groans and grips the sheets. Is this a punishment? And was he joking about the suits? She's worried he'd actually do it. “I liked it. Say it again…” She smiles big, warmly, glad that wasn't the mood-killer she thought. It’s like he resets himself, but now everything feels just right as he fucks her and she whimpers ‘Steve’ and ‘Cap’ and ‘Captain’ in a jumble, and she opens her eyes again to see Steve watching her with a devious smile. She didn't think it was in him. She makes a mental note of "Steve Rogers: Secret Pervert" to use later. He pauses to cup her thighs, bending her legs over his shoulder and curling her up a bit. She bites her lip as he brings his pace up, it’s smoother and deeper and everything she wants from him. He’s a quick learner. She stops gripping her right breast and takes to her clit, overstimulated but not properly so. Steve looks at her hand, then at her face, and licks his lips.

“Tell me what to do. Please, I wanna watch you-”

“justdon’tstoppleaseplease” She whimpers. Her hand is rubbing her clit frantically, trying to focus on the two feelings mingling together. Her thighs tense hard, lifting her a bit more from what Steve already had. She finds the right spot and the stimulation from his cock and her hand finally meet somewhere she can’t quite place, but she feels her orgasm creep through her. When it hits her head, she tosses her head back, moan over and over, a shuddering mess with her eyes closed and a giant smile. It feels like a warm wave all over her skin, and she doesn't want it to stop. She doesn't want this to end. Steve doesn’t stop thrusting throughout, stroking up her torso with one hand while keeping a hand on her hip. She shudders as the last bits of it come through, not sure if she had multiple orgasms or just one very long one. She moves her hand away from her clit, letting it rest on her stomach. She looks up, sure she's a hazy mess.

“Beautiful”, Steve whispers, his face a little awestruck, she smiles warmly at him.

“Don’t you wanna finish?” Steve seems to have entirely forgotten about his orgasm.

“I mean--is that okay? You seem very sensitive.”

“I’ll like it” She says with a smirk. Steve smiles, and goes through the same motions, starting slow but speeding up, and he shakes her with his thrusts. Points like this makes her glad she has a bit of padding for him to bump into, though her post-orgasm high is making her realize it is a bit sore. She strokes his back with the heels of her feet, looking at him with a happy smile as her gets worked up all over again, her sensitive spots making her shudder with the new ministrations. He moves hard and frantically, and his mouth quivers, thighs shake, and she feels the first spurts of his cum inside of her. It takes her by surprise, and she gasps, before several more spurts join inside of her, making her feel hot and sticky and wanted. No wonder people like it so much. Steve lets his head fall back, continuing his thrusts slowly. When he comes back from his high, he bends over her, not pulling out, and they kiss slowly, warmly, relishing in the moment.

"Was that alright?" She moans and kiss him again as he smirks, he had asked the exact same thing after the first time they ever had sex, she smirks.

“Don’t ask silly questions” She whispers with a grin, cupping her hands on his jaw. "You were great” She gives the same answer, though it is completely true. Carefully, he pulls out of her, kissing her gently before he curls next to her in bed, wrapping his arms around her. She nuzzles her face in the crook of his neck, humming softly. His body feels hot, heart still beating like a jackhammer. Her body hums gently with post-orgasmic bliss, which makes for a pretty successful second time for Steve. He strokes her body over and over, letting her quiver against him.

“Was it what you wanted? Was it alright? I just--"

“Yes” She responds, pressing a reassuring kiss against his skin. "Shh. Do me a favor and help me clean up?"

"Oh! Yeah. Yes. Hold on." Steve gets out of the bed in a slight rush, moving to his bathroom. She hears running water for a moment, until he comes back with a wet cloth. "I didn't expect this part."

"Coming inside me?"

"It was--thank you." Steve wipes her off, as he stops, she kisses him again before he moves away. He doesn't take long to come back and she finally pulls him close again, snuggling against him. She lets sleep fall over her, arms around his torso, and hope she can do something like this with him again.

 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Irina wakes up in an empty bed. It feels too big without Steve cuddled next to her. And his cuddling was very nice. Warm, comforting, and his smell, intoxicating to her. Not that it ever wasn't...and she worried that she sniffed too hard once...but she puts those thoughts aside. Did he leave her all alone? She double checks to make sure she isn't in her room. No, definitely not her bed. Well, it definitely wasn't a dream. She sits up, stretches, and groans happily. Though she feels a little sticky, but that was to be expected. When she takes a deep breath in, she can smell something delicious. So that’s where he was. She can't think of the last time someone made her breakfast. She looks around for her clothing to put them back on, oddly, but sweetly, she finds them folded in a neat pile on the nightstand. She takes the small stack and go about snapping her bra back on, hesitating if she be putting back on her panties (still probably damp given the work Steve put on them).

“You’re up", Steve says warmly. Startled, she turns and covers her chest instinctively with the blanket. Steve stands in front of the door, wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that seems far too tight. He puts his hands on his hips with a slight smile, and she realizes he's holding a spatula. “I’m sorry”, and he crawls onto the bed, setting the spatula aside, and wraps his arms around her. “Didn’t want to startle you. I’m an early bird…” she nods, wrapping her arms around him.

"I guessed so. I missed you."

"I didn't go far...just wanted to make you something to eat. It's been a few hours since you ate” she smiles warmly.

"Thank you......for caring."

“Of course...How are you feeling?”

“Great” she purrs, nuzzling her cheek into his chest. "I need a shower."

“Okay. Let’s get you something to wear for breakfast...or do you wanna shower first?” He pulls her into a proper hug.

“Shower”, she mutters into his shoulder, absorbing his warmth. He smells nice and clean, like Ivory soap, and she can’t help nuzzling her face into his neck. He squeezes her tight for a moment, before taking his hand to lift her chin and kisses her gently. His breath is just tapering away from minty, and she starts worry about hers.

“I’ve already got a towel and stuff out for you in the bathroom.” she smiles wide as he shuffles off the bed and towards the door. “Don’t take too long, I hate cold eggs” She slips out of bed and heads to the small bathroom, each room had small bathrooms attached to them, big enough for a shower, toilet and sink, the essentials, Tony has a proper bathroom at the end of the hall for when someone wants a proper bath. She quickly washes herself and dries as fast as she can, she walks back into the room with the towel wrapped tight around her. The towel is a nice comfort, it's fluffy and, of course, blue. When she finally get redressed and meet Steve at the kitchen table, where unfortunately Stark, Bucky, Wanda and Clint are also sat there, she forgot about them, Steve smiles at her. The plate sits in front of her pre-made, seeming to overflow with deliciousness.

“I’m not going to eat all this.”

“Didn’t expect you to”, he says with a smirk. She sticks out her tongue, then goes about cutting a pancake with a knife. Bucky and Wanda share a look as Clint and Stark smirk at one another.

“Soooooo” Stark starts.

“Was he any good for a virgin?” Bucky chuckles as Steve blushes and looks away, Irina raises an eyebrow and looks to Clint and Stark.

“Who said he was virgin?” Tony and Clint look to Steve.

“He wasn't?!”

“Nope” Irina pops the p with a smirk. Wanda chuckles and winks across at Irina as she shoves a fork full of pancakes into her mouth.

....................

Fury starts giving Irina more freedoms, she can leave the tower, with double supervision, a tracking device and unarmed, then a few weeks later it's unsupervised, a tracking device and unarmed for at most an hour, so to start with Tony sends her out to collect take out, she can see he is trying to get her out of the tower, the last few weeks she had been climbing the walls, actually climbing the walls with her claws she was so bored, despite Steve and Bucky trying to keep her occupied, her and Steve's relationship had just gotten stronger day in day out, they alternated rooms and when he and Bucky are away on missions he lets her steal his t-shirts to wear in bed. Back to the take out, it isn't much of a task but all her training kicks in the second she leaves the tower, even as she waits to collect the order, her eyes are flickering over everyone and everything, as the woman behind the counter places the bag of take out on the counter she gives the woman a small smile and turns to leave. That’s kinda when everything goes to Hell. The entrance to the food place explodes inward, showering it with shards of polished wood and metal fragments. The girl behind the counter screams and she shoves her into a nook under the counter, of course she is unarmed and using the counter as cover whilst handing the woman her phone.

“Help’s on speed dial,” She says breathlessly before kicking out to trip the attacker stepping behind the counter. He looses his balance enough to bring him closer to her height and she swings out to catch him right under the jaw, knocking his head back and him right out of sight. Though not before she catches sight of a familiar and unwelcome symbol. Couldn’t just be a run-of-the-mills bad guy, now could it? “Number one!” she hears the woman dialing as she looks around for some sort of weapon. The only viable thing seemed to be a decorative wooden coat rack, but it was better than nothing.

“H-e-llo?” The woman sobbed out, too frantic and terrified to make much sense. So Irina reaches out into her line of sight and motioned for her to hand it over. She seemed more than happy to oblige. Irina takes the phone and balances it between her ear and shoulder.

“Hey there, I’m getting attacked by Hydra and would like to order a serving of star-spangled sexiness with a side of timely heroism!” She slams the coat rack right into the ribs of the next guy through past the counter, reaching up to steady and hold the phone as the wood shattered and fell to pieces. “I should be pretty easy to find.” She grits out before kicking the man in the face to make him stay down. “Just follow the sirens and gunshots.” Something in the distance blows up and she has to amend the statement. “…and explosions apparently.” The sound of laughter brings her up short and sends a chill racing down her spine. Oh, no. Oh, crap. Apparently the shivering civilian managed to mis-dial. “Shit,” she groans at the realization of it being Tony on the line, rather than Steve. “I’m never gonna hear the end of this, am I?”

“Not in this lifetime, Kitty.”

“You recorded it, didn’t you?” Really, she didn’t even have to ask.

“You know me so well.” Her phone vibrates and she pulls back to see a text. A mass text with a lot of familiar numbers and a media file labelled ‘star-spangled-sexiness’.

“You didn’t.”

“Yeah, I kinda did.”

 

 

 

 

 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Steve, as a rule, did not open texts from numbers he didn’t know or from Tony Stark. He’d been burned one too many times on that front and had more than learned his lesson. Not only did Stark have a bad habit of being chatty when he drank, but even sober he loved his little tricks. Especially the ones that ended up being embarrassing for the person on the receiving end. So, when he checks his phone and sees Tony’s name, he sets it right back down and goes back to watching TV. Sam gets a text around the same time, but must have opened it as Steve hears a low voice that isn’t Sam’s coming from the kitchen moments before the man bursts into surprised laughter. It sounded like a feminine voice, but he couldn’t hear much more than the tone. He cranes his head to look back and found Sam coming towards him looking a strange mix of serious and amused. Like he is torn down the middle between smiling and frowning and had ended up doing small amounts of both in quick succession. Before Steve could question this, Sam replays the message. He recognizes Lina's voice right away and the first few words coming from it choked his heart with panic. Hydra in particular hit him with a very heavy flood of ice that made him feel like he was being frozen from the inside out. He is already on his feet and half-way out the door before she'd finished speaking. Though Sam was hot on his heels with the message still playing. Amusing and embarrassing as her witty call for aid is, the most pressing thing in the world to him was the fact that she is in danger. He didn’t care how well she can defend herself, or what abilities she had, he’d still be hit with that familiar surge of panic every single time she is near a fight, even just fighting her own brother. No doubt she’d been meaning to call him for help and got Tony by mistake. Later, when she is out of harm’s way, he’d take the time to be appropriately mortified by the mix-up. Tony would almost certainly make sure of that.

..............

It quickly became apparent that her little safety nook wasn’t all that safe. Whatever the Hydra numbskulls had blown up was making parts of the floor sink in. So, with the three stooges out cold—the third one burst in while she had been surveying the room and got a boot to the nether regions for his trouble—She hurries out the door behind them with the quaking counter woman at her heels. With a little corner ducking and a near miss with two more, now unconscious, flunkies, she finds an out of the way, windowless broom closet with a decent set of locks on a more stable side of the building. Irina ushers the woman inside after checking to make sure no one is in sight.

“Stay in there until the cops show up.” She didn’t need to be told twice. Irina hears the click of the lock and felt just a little better for it. It is not fun trying to attack and defend at the same damn time. Thankfully Tony was on his way and everyone on the team had a copy of her ‘distress call’ with GPS coordinates to go along with it. So she would soon be safe, but teased without mercy. Though, it was really Steve she is feeling bad for. Most of the jabs would be turned his way over the ‘star-spangled sexiness’ comment. It probably came as a surprise to no one that you two were together, even if they hadn’t outright announced it. She runs through the back of the food place and finds a stairwell, she takes it as fast as she can, jumping, catlike half way down and rolls with grace to a stand in an attempt to reach the bottom before any more explosions could destabilize the place. Maybe if the morons see her out in the open they’d be inclined to leave the building and the people inside it alone. Plus it’d be easier for her impending rescue to happen if she gets all the bad guys out into the open. Though, she might not have thought it through too well. A fact that slammed into her with all the subtlety of a brick wall in a high speed chase as she opens the emergency exit and found a barren stretch of parking lot. That was a lot of open ground to cover and hope there weren’t any snipers lying in wait. But the warning bells are going off to let all the baddies know just where she is and it kinda goes against her entire plan to run back inside. So she sucks it up, crosses her fingers, and starts running. She is halfway to the safety presented by a big rig in the distance when the sound of gunfire brings her up short. It is closer than a sniper would have been, but that only means it is harder for them to miss. The bullet rips through her arm, hurt like a sonova bitch too. The gunman at least had the decency to look abashed when she turns towards him, a hand over her gaping wound; a nice hole in her shirt and blood all over it. He looks pretty shocked honestly, though not as much as he did when she shoots him in almost exactly the same place he’d shot her, the gun she had grabbed off one of the unconscious HYDRA men. So down went another flunky and out poured a whole shitload of them from the building. Most of them carrying guns too. She races behind the truck as they rained down bullets on her in retribution for their fallen comrade… or just because they wanted her dead. No doubt her new known affiliation with The Avengers didn’t leave her very well liked on their end and the fact she is a former asset and loose end they needed to get rid of. She dives behind the truck as sirens grew closer and over that the sound of someone flying to her rescue brought her attention skyward. Just in time to see Falcon drop her sexy Captain into the fray too. Steve’s shield ricocheted off three targets, knocking them flat on their asses as he rolled into his landing. He wasn’t wearing his suit, but his ass looked just as fabulous in jeans.

“Hey sweetheart.” He greets sounding a little breathless.

“Hey yourself” She replies with a smile. One that he returned with a look of appeased relief before quickly rushing into battle.

“Your order has arrived!” Sam announces with a laugh as he lands nearby, taking out two flunkies while he was at it. “You did order some timely heroism with your star-spangled sexiness, right?”

“Yeah, but I forgot to say: ‘hold the sass’.” She replies while catching the commlink he tosses her way.

“Oh, my bad,” he replies with that boyish smirk. “I can take it back if you want something else.” she fixes the device over her hearing aid with a sigh.

“Oh, can it, birdbrain.”

“Yeah, because I haven’t heard that one before.” Sam rolls his eyes before taking flight with that bemused smirk still in place.

“Not very original,” Nat agrees over the link and she can hear the smile in her voice. “Star-spangled sexiness, on the other hand...” Steve staggers at the comment, but he recovers quickly.

“Not you too!” Irina's outrage sounds more like a pitiful whine. There is a roar of a motorcycle maybe ten seconds before she sees Natasha racing into the battle. She let the bike slam right into a group of bad guys while she jumps and rolls to safety. As usual, the woman made one hell of an entrance. Meanwhile Sam is flying around taking out bad guys from a distance while Steve beat them down up close and personal. They didn’t even need Irina, which is just fine and dandy. She'd had her dose of excitement and heroism for the month. Let the professionals handle the rest of it while her prepares herself to be the butt of more jokes. Her hand still tight over her bullet wound as she slides down the side of the truck, leaning against the back wheels while watching the cops get ready to make some arrests. Thankfully they are smart enough to stay out of the way until the bad guys were subdued. They knew the routine. That is where Steve found her resting after the fight was over and she lets him help her to her feet. She is about to say something cute about him playing hero when she catches the way his expression shifted as he starts to come in for a hug. His hand lingered above the blood stain on her shirt and her chest ached at the mix of anger and sorrow in his gaze. He knew how fast she healed, but he also knew she still feels the pain. Even if she didn’t he probably still would have had that heartbreaking, kicked puppy look that she wants to kiss away.

Her sweet, ever loving Stevie who just couldn’t stand the thought of anyone hurting his Lina. He is close enough she could have kissed him right then… and she would have too, if someone didn’t have bad timing. She recognizes the sound of his arrival before she even hears his voice, but she has very little time to prepare herself for his snark. Or the new color scheme assaulting her eyes when she turns to greet him. Tony is a damn jackass.

“Someone call for some star-spangled sexiness?” He makes a sweeping gesture at his new paint job while Irina stands there gaping and Steve hangs his head in mortified disbelief. Irina almost couldn’t believe he’d taken the time to repaint himself like the freaking Iron-Patriot.

“…Get out of that suit so I can hit you.” Tony’s head tilts like he might have been contemplating it. He is probably trying to imagine going one on one with her without the protective plating. It wasn’t like he couldn’t fight without the suit, but she did kinda have the whole feline agility, speed and assassin training.

“Pass.” Sam and Nat take that time to casually stroll back over as the police took over bagging and tagging the Hydra dipshits. Just another day in the life of a superhero, right? Nat took one cursory glance at Iron-man’s new paint job before pinning him down with the look.

“Really, Tony? This is what you’re up to while one of your own is fighting off Hydra?” He holds his hands up to placate her, but from him the gesture was ultimately mocking and dismissive. Especially with that smug, knowing tone that came coupled with a matching smirk.

“Kinda felt like she had things covered on her own. Plus you know our pretty boy patriot rushed here the second he heard she was under attack.” He sighs as if suddenly burdened. “Probably didn’t even take the time to actually listen to what she was saying after the words ‘attacked by Hydra’.”

“You know me well, Stark.” Steve states evenly, though he looked a little like he wanted to walk away from the whole damn discussion. Just toss his hands up in a ‘fuck this shit’ gesture and get the hell out of there. The pink in his cheeks is so adorable that Irina couldn’t help enjoying his discomfort though. Just a little. It was kind of his fault for being so damn cute anyway. Plus she is anticipating all the ways she can make this humiliation up to him later.

“No problem though,” Tony smirks and Irina feels the curl of unease in her gut. His phone suddenly rang and he held it up with a look of feigned curiosity as it belted out ‘a serving of star-spangled sexiness’ in her voice. “Oh, would you look at that, Steve’s calling.” For a very brief moment Irina is oddly thankful that Clint, Pietro and Wanda aren't there, but then she remembers he’d sent the damn file to everyone. This is just the tip of the iceberg and the thought made her want to run crying to Bucky like she did whenever a bully upset her as a kid. Though, with her luck, even he’d have something smart to say about this.

“You are the king of douchebags.” She states and naturally it just made Tony laugh. He is more than aware he was a giant bag of douchery. Just as she is more than aware that he enjoyed being one. Steve is trying, and failing, to suppress as smile at her remark. Sam is just straight up laughing over it while Nat fiddles with her phone.

“Tony, call me.” She commands and he did so, if only to see what she was up to. ‘The King of Douchebags’ rang out as her new ringtone for him and it was Irina's turn to crack up this time.

“I love you.” She tells the SHIELD assassin through her fit of laughter as she smirks.

“I know.” Tony shakes his head at the both of them before he motions at Irina and Steve, still standing so close but not nearly close enough.

“Come on and kiss her, we don’t have all day here Cap.” Irina thinks for sure Steve is going to tell Tony where he can shove it, but he takes her by surprise. His hand curls around her waist, making her jolt a little at the familiar rush of electric tension and desire from his touch. Regardless of the smirking audience he tugs her close and right to his lips in one easy motion. Just the way he would have if they’d been alone. Suddenly she didn’t give a damn who was watching. All that mattered is Steve and that soft, silken hair that she loves running her fingers through. He trembles a little against her as she does so, kissing her a little harder for it, and holding her tighter as well. The majority of the surroundings are lost beyond the thrumming of her heart and the heat of his embrace. Though something Sam says does kinda pull her attention away from Steve’s lips. To be fair, those lips were already tugging up into a bemused smile at his friend’s jab.

“You realize she meant Steve with that whole ‘star-spangled sexiness’ thing, right?” Tony is looking very smug and amused when Irina glances over.

“Considering I was the one she called, I’m almost entirely positive she was ordering me”

“I am going to shoot you in a minute…”

“With what gun, exactly?” she smirks and holds out her hand towards Nat and she passes Irina one of hers without a word. Tony points at her as his face mask dropped down protectively. “Betrayal!” She cocks her head a little to the side with a mocking smirk before she turned to look at Irina.

“Want me to hold him down?”

“As fun as that would undoubtedly be, I think I hear Pepper calling.” Tony even cups a hand around his ear and tilted his head towards a sound that was almost certainly coming from his imagination. “Yep, gotta run.” Irina points the gun at him with a feral smile and Nat shrinks into a bit of a crouch, ready to pounce at the signal.

“Tell her you’re gonna be late.” Before anyone can get their hands on him, and while Steve shakes with silent laughter, Tony shoots right up into the air.

“Yeah… She gets a little testy when I make her wait. Have fun unwrapping your star-spangled sexiness though.” He takes off like a bat outta hell, leaving Irina bemused, but ultimately pleased with the results. Nat smirks as Irina hands back her gun while Sam snickers at Tony’s parting jab. The two of them disperse then to give Steve and Irina some amount of privacy. As much as one could really have in the remains of a battlefield swarming with cops and medical personnel that is. Though Nat did tap her ear pointedly as she left to remind her both to remove her comms, something she is immensely grateful for. She'd had enough embarrassing blunders for one day. She pockets the little earpiece with a relieved sigh as Steve removed his own.

“Ready to go home?” He asks with that smile that never failed to leave her breathless.

“Yeah,” She leans in close and nuzzles the underside of his jaw. “I’d really like to unwrap some star-spangled sexiness.” As much as this statement flusters the hell out of him, he still laughs. He also wraps her up nice and tight in his arms and kisses her senseless.

 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Irina wakes curled up on Steve's chest, his arms wrapped tight around her as if he is scared to loose her. Again. She nuzzles into his neck purring as he chuckles and pulls her closer to him, his fingers rubbing lazy circles into her skin.

“Lina?” she leans up and stares at him.

“Yeah Stevie?” he smiles at little at the old nickname.

“I've really missed you.....” she snuggles back into his chest. “When I woke from the ice.....you were the first person I thought of and when I found out.....” he chokes up. “When I found out how long it had been”

“Steve” she moves to cup his face and straddle his waist.

“They didn't know what had happened to you....” he brushes his fingers over her face. “I lost Buck......and I lost you......and I...”

“Shhhhh” she brushes her nose over his. “We are both here. . . . . me and Buck” she kisses him. “Right here” she tells him. “And I'm sorry....for not remembering sooner”

“It is not your fault” he clutches her face. “It really isn't”

“I remember at the beginning, I fought it” he kisses her forehead.

“I knew you would have” she smiles and presses her lips to his whilst shifting her knees against his, his hand resting on her hip as she moves, his head falling back to the pillows. “God Lina” the only thing between the two of them, the thin blanket they fell asleep with. His hands slide along her thigh as she pants rubbing herself against his growing erection between her legs.

“Steve” she threads her fingers into his hair, he sits up so he is flush against her chest, his lips finding her neck. “I need you” he nods and pulls her closer to him.

........................

Bucky watches his sister stare at the display of Captain America, he and Steve thought it might help her with her memories, she has most of them back but she still had patches. She smiles as she walks along the displays. Bucky moves to her side and takes her hand in his.

“Do you remember when we first met Steve?” she glances to Bucky, he could see the cog turning in her head.

“Someone was beating him up in the alley......” she glances to the display. “I punch him in the face” Bucky smirks and nods.

“Knocked him right out.....I think that was the moment Steve fell in love with you, he kind of just looked up at you with this sort of awe” Bucky smiles at her. “We weren't even twelve” She smiles and hugs his metal arm, completely unphased by it. Bucky reaches up and brushes is fingers over her cheek.

“Hey” they both turn as Steve approaches and hands them both bags of snacks. Irina smiles up at him as he kisses her cheek. Bucky smiles warmly at the pair. Steve slips his hand into hers as they head around the rest of the museum.

.......................................

Steve brushes his fingers through Irina's hair as she lays with her head in his lap, the cat, James curled up in the space between her and the edge of the sofa, on her other side, Bucky sat with her legs over his, Wanda and Pietro sit on the floor in front of them, they all jump up as the elevator opens to reveal one Nick Fury who looks over the mismatched group.

“Selena Barnes” Irina clears her throat.

“I prefer Irina, but I suppose now I will have get used to Selena” she sighs as she tugs on her sleeve. “Or maybe just Lina” she glances to Steve who takes her hand. “I'm sorry” she states looking to Fury. “About breaking into your apartment” he waves her off.

“I am aware of your situation, and you did give the files back” she nods. “I am actually here to welcome you officially to the Avengers” Fury steps closer and holds out his hand. “Catwoman; Avenger” she smiles a little and takes his hand. “You and the Winter Soldier will make for one formidable team; not to mention the two of you and Captain America”

“Thank you Sir” she responds tearing up a little. “This....you have no idea how much this means to me” Bucky takes her other hand as Steve squeezes the hand he holds.

“I have an idea” he nods to her. “You have a few days before you will get your first mission, supervised of course, but I have faith you will be a encouraging edition, Lina”

“Thank you” he nods again and leaves, she smiles and looks to Steve who leans closer to kiss her.

“You are an Avenger” he states against her lips. “Catwoman” her smile widens as she throws her arms around his neck. “I love you” he kisses her again as Bucky smiles kissing Wanda. Pietro rolling his eyes and leaving.

“I love you too” Lina tells him, she had a fresh start, a new beginning, she had her twin, her family, she had Steve, her first love and who she knew is her soul mate, she has the Avengers, and she is now finally free............

 


End file.
